


A Dinner

by dNwfvBj9



Category: Pocket Monsters: HeartGold & SoulSilver | Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 11:26:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dNwfvBj9/pseuds/dNwfvBj9
Summary: Proton tears meat with his hands, a loving caress under raw brutality.Archer cuts his food into small, neat pieces, sharp and calculated motions merciless in their efficiency.





	A Dinner

Proton tears meat with his hands, a loving caress under raw brutality. Bones crack and tendons rip, and Proton relishes the motions almost as much as he relishes the meal. Cruelty is an acquired taste, and at this point, he wouldn’t have anything else. 

Archer cuts his food into small, neat pieces, sharp and calculated motions merciless in their efficiency. Blood drips from his too-rare steak, but it can’t be helped; sometimes freshly caught Pokemon is the only thing there is to eat. (And sometimes freshly caught Pokemon is the only thing he enjoys eating.)

They sit across from each other, and wherever Archer sits is the head of the table. This is a fact Proton doesn’t even need to think about. He simply knows it’s true. The hierarchy was defined the moment he accepted the dark uniform of a Rocket Executive, the pitch-black cloth of night and shadow and death. Archer, in his pristine white uniform, shines above him, a star guiding Team Rocket.

* * *

On good days, Archer despises speaking during meals, so Proton carries a conversion with himself. If Archer minds, at least he doesn’t show it; Proton has free reign to ramble uninterrupted. Perhaps Proton used to be a scientist, and that’s why he’s always returning to absurd theories and obscure formulas - quantum physics, space travel, nuclear energy - really, where did he learn all these? 

He speaks of hypotheticals, impractical ideas bordering on nonsense, but it doesn’t matter. He is not a scientist anymore.

(On good days, he can be selfish. He doesn't speak to Archer, and he doesn't think of Team Rocket.)

* * *

On bad days, Archer speaks too much about too many things, things that Proton does not care enough about. Archer has ambitions, he has a vision for Team Rocket, and naturally, he expects Proton to follow him. (Proton _does_ follow him, but that’s beside the point.)

Although he tries to listen, the taste of Slowpoke tail distracts Proton too much; a slimy, sticky impression in his mouth. It’s sweet and salty and sour and bitter all at once, it’s a delicacy, and it’s disgusting, and Archer loves it, so Proton takes another bite.

* * *

Most days are good days, and despite Proton’s chattiness, they eat in silence; Archer insists on it. Of course, good days inevitably come at the expense of others, so sometimes they eat to a backdrop of suffering; children wailing, an old woman pleading, a young man cursing them.

During those meals, Archer plugs his ears, and Proton laughs and laughs until he can hear nothing but his laughter. There isn’t anything else to do; ignorance does not suit him as it does Archer, and who is he to feign sympathy? (An apology would be even emptier than laughter, he thinks.)

* * *

At the table together, the men seem as ill-fitting as puzzle pieces from different sets. But there is an order to everything; in a fallen Team Rocket, Archer and Proton thrive in the chaos they create. Blue-green and green-blue, deep down, they must be similar in some ways; how else could they tolerate each other’s presence as much as they do?

**Author's Note:**

> Back when I played HGSS, I loved the Rocket Execs. It makes me happy to write about them.
> 
> Might go back and edit this later since I'm posting late-night. Proofreading isn't quite as effective when your brain wants to sleep >_<


End file.
